Mining sulfur in Java – awesome pictures

…the miners of the 2,600 meter tall (8,660ft) Kawah Ijen volcano trek up to the crater, then down to the shore of a 200-meter-deep crater lake of sulfuric acid, where they retrieve heavy chunks of pure sulfur to carry back to a weighing station.

For about $13 a day these intrepid miners brave clouds of steam and poison gas to mine sulfur. They break huge chunks off the burning piles and make the dangerous trek back to the refinery, carrying up to 200 lbs in baskets slung over their shoulders.